Blundstone Arena to host Bushrangers, Warriors Final

17 Mar 2015

The Bupa Sheffield Shield final between the Commonwealth Bank Bushrangers and the Alcohol.Think Again Western Warriors will be held at Blundstone Arena, Hobart starting this Saturday.

The Victorian Bushrangers finished on top of the Shield points table to earn the right to host the final. With the MCG unavailable due to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, Cricket Victoria nominated Blundstone Arena as its venue given it does not have an alternative first-class venue in the state currently capable of staging the Shield final. Cricket Victoria, with support from the Victorian State Government and Cricket Australia, is re-developing the Junction Oval to serve as a future first-class venue as an alternative to the MCG.

"The MCG would have been our first preference but, as is well known, the ICC Cricket World Cup requirements mean it is unavailable in this period. The Junction Oval in St Kilda will in future be our alternative first class venue in Victoria once it is redeveloped as the Victorian Cricket & Community Centre, but is not acceptable as a first-class venue in its current condition.

"We explored all our options and Blundstone Arena, being a high quality international standard ground and available next week after its recent Cricket World Cup matches, was the best fit. We are grateful for the assistance of Cricket Tasmania in coming to this solution and look forward to a successful event."

The Bupa Sheffield Shield final will start this Saturday, 21 March at Blundstone Arena from 10.30am local time. Entry will be free, with the match to be live streamed on cricket.com.au.